As more and more high-profile cyber attacks are identified, businesses are increasing their investment in cyber insurance to help mitigate their risk exposure in the event their data is hacked. According to U.S.-based insurance broker Marsh in its latest report, Benchmarking Trends: Cyber Attacks Drive Insurance Purchases for New and Existing Buyers, client spending on standalone cyber insurance increased 32 percent for the first half of 2015. Pricing for cyber insurance also increased — especially for industries that have experienced significant cyber losses.

Across specific business lines, spending grew significantly. Power and utility companies increased their growth rate 100 percent, nearly doubling their take-up rates for the same period in 2014. Universities and other education-based institutions saw a growth rate of 155 percent — a 90 percent change in their cyber insurance take-up rates over the previous year. Marsh notes that "school settings are ripe for cyber attacks due to the hefty amount of student and staff personnel information that is stored in a variety of places."

Following the Anthem hack earlier this year, spending by healthcare organizations increased to 41 percent in 2015, up from 37 percent in 2014. Based on the type of information health care providers hold, they are prime targets for cyber criminals who understand the opportunities shared data exposures present. There are also threats that exist because of individuals filing false healthcare claims with stolen data.